Live from the Ocean Princess Land of the Midnight Sun June 7 - 25

[sunsetbeachgal]

Oh...I hope Philipa Healy will be on in September...saw her on the Golden a few years ago and DH and I just loved her...thanks Donna for doing this thread...

[Hemi001]

Thanks for the live thread, it takes me back to my Norway/Iceland cruise last year. The Norway ports were just wonderful, have a great cruise.

[piper28]

It'll be interesting to follow this thread. I'd dearly love to do this cruise myself, but I'm not sure I convince work to let me off for the 3 weeks it'd take to do this :).

[Kiwi Kruzer]

From the live webcam at Flam.

Ocean Princess docked and the train ready for Donna.

(I have included the section from the home page which gives the current temps).

 

[DonahCBrown]

Day 3 – Flaam

We joined several of our fellow Cruise Critic roll call members on two excursions today from the lovely small village of Flaam. The first was a two hour round trip on the train from Flaam to Myrdal. While this does cater to a large number of tourists, and there is some broadcast commentary, this is principally the connecting transportation from this side of Norway into Oslo via rail.

 

The scenery is glorious along the railway – numerous waterfalls, beautiful valleys, steep mountains with hanging glaciers, small settlements along the route. It truly looks like a picture postcard.

 

On our return to Flaam, our group moved from train to boat touring, with the RIB (rigid inflatable boat – sort of a cross between a whaler type boat and a zodiac) tour through FjordSafaris, which one of our party had found out about on line. They provided an excellent service, first outfitting you in an arctic type float suit (think survival suit from Deadliest Catch) complete with hat, gloves, and ski goggles – all of which it turns out, you really did need. It was, overall, a lovely sunny day, and when we suited up on shore, I was convinced that it was overkill, even for me, who is usually freezing at the kinds of temperatures we’ve had. Once the boat got started, though, I was glad to be bundled up this way and was pretty comfortable until the last few minutes of our trip when we were moving really fast and also under cloud cover. The water temperature is around 3 or 4C and the wind from the boat’s movement is decidedly chilly. We saw the World Heritage Fjord of Aurlandsfjord and also Naeroyfjord (there are lots of missing marks in that one – sorry – don’t have the right typefaces) and saw a seal and some porpoises along the way as well as sheep and goats and a few horses.

 

We were back from both tours by 1:30 or so, and, after a quick lunch on board, we walked around the small town, and checked out the shops (mostly tourist stuff, a few very nice handwoven linens, lots of sweaters, and furs of all kinds) There is also a small brew/pub right at the dock, and a museum devoted to the Flaambana Railroad’s history.

 

Entertainment of the evening is, again, Bobby Dennis the English comic, evening movie is the animated How to Train Your Dragon, Heather Sullivan continues in the Casino Lounge to much acclaim, and Cinnamoon plays the Tahitian Lounge, followed by a 70’s Polyester Party at 9:45.

 

I forgot to mention that there is also a “cocktail power hour’ reduced prices from 8PM onward in the lounge bars.

 

Currency exchange is available on board, at a 5.9092 NOK for the dollar, and a $3.50 transaction fee. The ATM in Flaam was offering 6.9/dollar, with whatever the applicable bank fees might be for your particular card.

 

Sail in and Sail Away from Flaam are really gorgeous, so be sure and plan to be out early with your camera. For those who asked about the weather – the high today was supposed to be 15C and it was clear through the day until about 1 when the cloud cover developed. It felt quite pleasant, with long sleeves and jeans and a sweater for me, but the locals were in shorts and short sleeves.

 

That’s it for now. – Oh yes – the Assistant CD is Paul from Australia – for whoever it was that asked.

[DonahCBrown]

Could you please tell me about the hairdryers Are they Ok or should I bring my own?My hair is quite long I'm wondering if it will be powerful enough

Enjoy Norway!!!

 

Bring your own - my short fine hair is hard to dry with the one in our cabin.

[caribill]

Currency exchange is available on board, at a 5.9092 NOK for the dollar, and a $3.50 transaction fee. The ATM in Flaam was offering 6.9/dollar, with whatever the applicable bank fees might be for your particular card.

 

 

ATM rate is excellent with today's official rate being less than that, 6.625.

[JosieJeangirl]

Donna....enjoying your daily posts tremendously, as we will be boarding on July 13 for

Fire and Ice. We are anxious to return to Greenland & Iceland...where we have gone

many times.

 

Do you happen to know the assistant CD's last name......since there are so many Pauls

as ACD's, and several throughout the fleet from Australia. Thank you so much for the information and for your welcome daily posts!

 

Joanne in Arizona ;)

[Woobstr112G]

Day 3 – Flaam

We joined several of our fellow Cruise Critic roll call members on two excursions today from the lovely small village of Flaam. The first was a two hour round trip on the train from Flaam to Myrdal. While this does cater to a large number of tourists, and there is some broadcast commentary, this is principally the connecting transportation from this side of Norway into Oslo via rail.

 

The scenery is glorious along the railway – numerous waterfalls, beautiful valleys, steep mountains with hanging glaciers, small settlements along the route. It truly looks like a picture postcard.

 

On our return to Flaam, our group moved from train to boat touring, with the RIB (rigid inflatable boat – sort of a cross between a whaler type boat and a zodiac) tour through FjordSafaris, which one of our party had found out about on line. They provided an excellent service, first outfitting you in an arctic type float suit (think survival suit from Deadliest Catch) complete with hat, gloves, and ski goggles – all of which it turns out, you really did need. It was, overall, a lovely sunny day, and when we suited up on shore, I was convinced that it was overkill, even for me, who is usually freezing at the kinds of temperatures we’ve had. Once the boat got started, though, I was glad to be bundled up this way and was pretty comfortable until the last few minutes of our trip when we were moving really fast and also under cloud cover. The water temperature is around 3 or 4C and the wind from the boat’s movement is decidedly chilly. We saw the World Heritage Fjord of Aurlandsfjord and also Naeroyfjord (there are lots of missing marks in that one – sorry – don’t have the right typefaces) and saw a seal and some porpoises along the way as well as sheep and goats and a few horses.

 

We were back from both tours by 1:30 or so, and, after a quick lunch on board, we walked around the small town, and checked out the shops (mostly tourist stuff, a few very nice handwoven linens, lots of sweaters, and furs of all kinds) There is also a small brew/pub right at the dock, and a museum devoted to the Flaambana Railroad’s history.

 

Entertainment of the evening is, again, Bobby Dennis the English comic, evening movie is the animated How to Train Your Dragon, Heather Sullivan continues in the Casino Lounge to much acclaim, and Cinnamoon plays the Tahitian Lounge, followed by a 70’s Polyester Party at 9:45.

 

I forgot to mention that there is also a “cocktail power hour’ reduced prices from 8PM onward in the lounge bars.

 

Currency exchange is available on board, at a 5.9092 NOK for the dollar, and a $3.50 transaction fee. The ATM in Flaam was offering 6.9/dollar, with whatever the applicable bank fees might be for your particular card.

 

Sail in and Sail Away from Flaam are really gorgeous, so be sure and plan to be out early with your camera. For those who asked about the weather – the high today was supposed to be 15C and it was clear through the day until about 1 when the cloud cover developed. It felt quite pleasant, with long sleeves and jeans and a sweater for me, but the locals were in shorts and short sleeves.

 

That’s it for now. – Oh yes – the Assistant CD is Paul from Australia – for whoever it was that asked.

 

 

Thanks for your continued reports. They are very much appreciated for all of us "virtual cruisers.":):):)

 

Bob

[mmwc]

"On our return to Flaam, our group moved from train to boat touring, with the RIB (rigid inflatable boat – sort of a cross between a whaler type boat and a zodiac) tour through FjordSafaris, which one of our party had found out about on line. They provided an excellent service, first outfitting you in an arctic type float suit (think survival suit from Deadliest Catch) complete with hat, gloves, and ski goggles – all of which it turns out, you really did need. It was, overall, a lovely sunny day, and when we suited up on shore, I was convinced that it was overkill, even for me, who is usually freezing at the kinds of temperatures we’ve had. Once the boat got started, though, I was glad to be bundled up this way and was pretty comfortable until the last few minutes of our trip when we were moving really fast and also under cloud cover. The water temperature is around 3 or 4C and the wind from the boat’s movement is decidedly chilly. We saw the World Heritage Fjord of Aurlandsfjord and also Naeroyfjord (there are lots of missing marks in that one – sorry – don’t have the right typefaces) and saw a seal and some porpoises along the way as well as sheep and goats and a few horses. "

 

Donah

 

We are SO enjoying your live from. Thank you very very much. We are on the Land of the Midnight Sun in July 2011. We are very much interested in the 2 tours you did in Flaam. Could you answer a few questions for us please and thank you? They can be answered on your return home so as not to use your minutes. The questions are: were the train and boat rides booked thru Princess and if not could we know when and how you booked them?

 

Again many thanks,

 

Cheers

 

Midge

[DonahCBrown]

"On our return to Flaam, our group moved from train to boat touring, with the RIB (rigid inflatable boat – sort of a cross between a whaler type boat and a zodiac) tour through FjordSafaris, which one of our party had found out about on line. They provided an excellent service, first outfitting you in an arctic type float suit (think survival suit from Deadliest Catch) complete with hat, gloves, and ski goggles – all of which it turns out, you really did need. It was, overall, a lovely sunny day, and when we suited up on shore, I was convinced that it was overkill, even for me, who is usually freezing at the kinds of temperatures we’ve had. Once the boat got started, though, I was glad to be bundled up this way and was pretty comfortable until the last few minutes of our trip when we were moving really fast and also under cloud cover. The water temperature is around 3 or 4C and the wind from the boat’s movement is decidedly chilly. We saw the World Heritage Fjord of Aurlandsfjord and also Naeroyfjord (there are lots of missing marks in that one – sorry – don’t have the right typefaces) and saw a seal and some porpoises along the way as well as sheep and goats and a few horses. "

 

Donah

 

We are SO enjoying your live from. Thank you very very much. We are on the Land of the Midnight Sun in July 2011. We are very much interested in the 2 tours you did in Flaam. Could you answer a few questions for us please and thank you? They can be answered on your return home so as not to use your minutes. The questions are: were the train and boat rides booked thru Princess and if not could we know when and how you booked them?

 

Again many thanks,

 

Cheers

 

Midge

 

Both were booked direct, online and paid on the day in local cash. There are plenty of ATMs in Stavanger, and one or two in the little bank in Flaam as well. We had a group of ten for the train, so got a group rate and had an assigned seating area. On the return, we were able to spread out a lot more, though, as the car behind our had had a larger group that departed in Myrdal to connect to Oslo, so we had about two and a half cars to ourselves pretty much. That was especially nice because there are a limited number of windows that partially open so that the photographers could take pictures without being obstructed by the glass and on the way back there was plenty of room for everyone to get an opportunity at those windows.

 

The fjordsafari group is also on line, also booked as a group - they take a minimum of 8, so it was just the 8 of us for that. Boat holds around 15.

[coo359a2]

I'm going to ditto everything Donna said about Flaam. It was great and couldn't get any better with the veryr good weather we are having. Today is overcast but it is a sea day. Now for good sunny weather tomorrow in Tromso. I want to go up in the cable car but need clear skies to make it worthwhile. It is getting colder outside. Wore two sweaters for my 6am walk outside on the walking track. Our port lecturer told all to dress warm for our upcoming ports. We;ll be trying the Bistro tonight. They have 3 set menus they are rotating

[Carolina Cruisr]

We;ll be trying the Bistro tonight. They have 3 set menus they are rotating

 

 

We will be on the Ocean this September. Could you give us more info on the Bistro dining....what is the menu like and is it limited to 3 items all the time? Can you get pizza at the Bistro dining? We may want to opt out of formal nights. We have 4 formal as it is a B2B.

 

Enjoy your cruise. We are reading every morsel that comes accross about the Ocean. First experieince on a "small ship".

[DonahCBrown]

I think pizza is always available, if I remember correctly. Will give you an update on the bistro menus after this evening. Most traveled luncheon today - very very nice - our table's host was the ship's doctor, a very nice gal from South Africa.

 

Very chilly and overcast today - hopefully it will be sunny tomorrow for Tromso. We'll do the Polaria Museum and the Cathedral.

 

Phillipa Healey is on again tonight, along with the comic - Tina gave a pretty positive review on his performance last night so we'll see how it goes tonight.

 

Doing pretty well at trivia - lots of ties, though, and they are giving all of us the tokens. Today there were four groups still tied after the tie breaker.

 

That's it for now.

[mmwc]

Thanks very much Donna for the information.

 

Thanks also to Tina and Ken

 

all your info and insight is much appreciated.

 

Midge

[DonahCBrown]

The bistro menu is very good - limited to three or four items, plus appetizer and dessert and there are 3 different menus that are rotated. The pizza/calzone menu is also available during bistro hours/days. The dinner buffet is available on the port days only from 5:30 to 9:00 PM, with bistro service after 9 PM.

 

Bobby Dennis and Phillipa Healey leave the ship tomorrow in Tromso, and there will be a new entertainer joining us - couldn't quite catch the name, but he is a violinist from Wales.

 

The sun came out late this afternoon and is shining brightly now at nearly 9:30 - not even close to sunset - I'm hopeful that we'll have a bright sunny day tomorrow. Report in the Patter says scattered clouds, temp at 57.2 F 14 C. If so, shouldn't be that bad for walking around Tromso.

 

We passed over the Arctic Circle at around 4 PM this afternoon.

 

Tomorrow's entertainment is basically, the FIFA World Cup and Heather who will have to handle both the showroom late show and the Casino Lounge.

 

Movie tomorrow will be Sherlock Holmes.

 

That's it from me for now.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

 

[DeepWaterMariner]

We passed over the Arctic Circle at around 4 PM this afternoon.

 

No more sunsets or sunrises until you head south.

[Canuker]

Donna,

Can you please elaborate on what coverage of the FIFA World Cup is being provided on board?

All games or just some?

On the cabin TV or on a big screen somewhere?

How's the picture/audio quality?

Are there signal interruptions?

Do you know which feed (i.e. broadcaster) is being carried?

 

Many thanks from this soccer (sorry, football) addict.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Just checked back on the itinerary and they arrive at Tromso at 10am local time, so looks like they are having a scenic sail in through the fiords, or the sounds.

Hows the scenery Donna?

Looks like the bridge cam is stuck, or not getting its transmition out from way up there.

[Nick_C]

Midge, you can buy tickets for the Flam railway on the day. Find out which train the ship's excursion is using, and avoid that one! There are lots of trains, timetable at http://www.flaamsbana.no/eng/

 

If you are reasonably fit and enjoy cycling, get off the ship early and try to rent one of the few bikes available for hire from the tourist office (close to the station, short walk from the quay). Take a one way ticket to Myrdal (you have to pay for the bikes and they go in the Guard's van), and "cycle" back down to Flam - no pedalling required, just brakes! The first part of the track back is very steep and gravel, and we walked the first mile. After that, much easier, thrilling, and you can stop and enjoy the views whenever you like. I would only recommend this if the weather is good, but when we were in Flam it was in the high 60s.

 

Donna, I love Norway and am enjoying your commentary, and hearing about OP.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

What fantastic feedback we are getting from this thread...

Thanks for that info Nick.

Down here in NZ, my dear old Dad used to call us

"blown away Norwegians"

as he came from the Shetland Islands,

and his ancestry came from Norway......

and now here we are on the other side of the world.

[mmwc]

Midge, you can buy tickets for the Flam railway on the day. Find out which train the ship's excursion is using, and avoid that one! There are lots of trains, timetable at http://www.flaamsbana.no/eng/

 

If you are reasonably fit and enjoy cycling, get off the ship early and try to rent one of the few bikes available for hire from the tourist office (close to the station, short walk from the quay). Take a one way ticket to Myrdal (you have to pay for the bikes and they go in the Guard's van), and "cycle" back down to Flam - no pedalling required, just brakes! The first part of the track back is very steep and gravel, and we walked the first mile. After that, much easier, thrilling, and you can stop and enjoy the views whenever you like. I would only recommend this if the weather is good, but when we were in Flam it was in the high 60s.

 

Donna, I love Norway and am enjoying your commentary, and hearing about OP.

 

 

Nick C

 

Thanks so very much for this. All this great info is great.

 

Will consider doing the bike if the weather cooperates.

 

Midge

[PapaGWG]

 

 

David,

What's the source for these nifty photo's?

 

Glenn

[DonahCBrown]

Donna,

Can you please elaborate on what coverage of the FIFA World Cup is being provided on board?

All games or just some?

On the cabin TV or on a big screen somewhere?

How's the picture/audio quality?

Are there signal interruptions?

Do you know which feed (i.e. broadcaster) is being carried?

 

Many thanks from this soccer (sorry, football) addict.

 

There was supposed to be a feed into the Cabaret Lounge. Turned out the signal wasn't expected to be strong enough, so it was cancelled, although supposed to be sent to cabin feed if signal improves. So far, nothing - it is around 10:15 PM and we are out of the fjords and in cold and very rough conditions. Supposed to be blowing around 35 K - feels like more. Getting a lot of rocking and rolling right now - signal has been very spotty, but wanted to get this up while it was available.

 

Tromso was reasonably comfortable although overcast. Among things to do - Polaria, Arctic Cathedral, cable car up the mountain, Tromso Museum, and botanical garden at the university. Shuttle operated by ship to city center was $10/p RT. City bus all day ticket (with pick up and drop off close to the port, as it turned out) was 50 NOK. There was also a combination ticket that got you city bus plus cable car ride - don't know the price - Tina and Ken did that one.

 

Turned out that there was a Thai festival of some kind on in town - Thai dancing and other entertainment, street fair with crafts, Thai food booths (our Thai assistant waiter was beyond thrilled) - there were also concerts of Norwegian music and dance at the other end of the street. We had no idea this was going to be happening - no announcements by anyone, but it was a nice treat.

 

Public buses are a great option here and very easy to navigate.

 

Will not push my luck now and close before this all goes poof.